Regulator postpones bandwidth price cut

The regulator, which is to respond to VSNL’s petition with the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Adjudication Tribunal, said on Tuesday that the price cut will not meet its deadline due to VSNL’s pending case. TDSAT will hear Trai’s case on April 13, after which VSNL must respond in three days, adding up to a delay of around one month.

Trai counsel P.V. Kapur said in the TDSAT on Tuesday that the regulator’s order follows a consultation process that lasted a year and a half. He said the need to intervene in international bandwidth tariffs follows petitions from the user industry — IT and ITES companies — who claim to be on the brink of losing their cost advantage due to the high prices of international bandwidth.

VSNL has contended before the telecom tribunal that the regulator need not be permitted to interfere in fixing tariffs. It has argued that Trai had followed an external consultant, Ernst & Young, in calculations of price cuts, though these figures were not shared with VSNL.